SWITCHING GEARS
A new year is upon us. All the trappings and trimmings of the holidays have been packed away (maybe), and thoughts have turned to all the things we will and will not do (maybe) in the coming year. In our house, there was no Christmas tree to take down and haul away. We didn’t make the trek to the tree farm to labor over the decision of which conifer was the perfect size, shape and color. We never put one up at all, in fact. Our living room is in a state of semi-chaos, a rather lengthy one resulting from an enduring remodel-in-the-works. So, we made the most of the situation. My daughter Chloe recently turned 13, and part of the celebration of such a momentous occasion was a slumber party, where she and her friends Maya, Clare and Holly painted a Christmas tree on one wall of the living room, complete with decorations and presents underneath. Why not? After all, the wall will eventually be repainted when the remodeling project is complete. Maybe. There’s nothing wrong with shaking up the routine. In this issue, you’ll meet four locals who shook up their own routines, taking big detours from their chosen paths and embarking on new adventures. The payoff, it seems, often far outweighs a little fear and trepidation. We also take a look at some of the projects that have altered our city’s cultural landscape – many that made it better, a few that can’t quite get off the ground and others that hold promise for the future. All things change, and we change with them. And so we arrive at the dawn of a new year, taking stock of what is behind us and what lies ahead. We seek to correct mistakes, but will likely repeat a few, and to undertake new endeavors – large and small – that will make life better for ourselves and those around us. As you embark on your journey, we at Slice wish you peace, love and laughter in the coming year. May your approach be unique and your confidence unwavering. You never know what’s just around the bend.
A new year is upon us. All the trappings and trimmings of the holidays have
been packed away (maybe), and thoughts have turned to all the things we
will and will not do (maybe) in the coming year.
In our house, there was no Christmas tree to take down and haul away.
We didn’t make the trek to the tree farm to labor over the decision of which
conifer was the perfect size, shape and color. We never put one up at all, in
fact. Our living room is in a state of semi-chaos, a rather lengthy one resulting
from an enduring remodel-in-the-works. So, we made the most of the situation.
My daughter Chloe recently turned 13, and part of the celebration of such
a momentous occasion was a slumber party, where she and her friends Maya,
Clare and Holly painted a Christmas tree on one wall of the living room, complete
with decorations and presents underneath. Why not? After all, the wall
will eventually be repainted when the remodeling project is complete. Maybe.
There’s nothing wrong with shaking up the routine.
In this issue, you’ll meet four locals who shook up their own routines, taking
big detours from their chosen paths and embarking on new adventures.
The payoff, it seems, often far outweighs a little fear and trepidation. We also
take a look at some of the projects that have altered our city’s cultural landscape
– many that made it better, a few that can’t quite get off the ground and others
that hold promise for the future.
All things change, and we change with them. And so we arrive at the dawn
of a new year, taking stock of what is behind us and what lies ahead. We seek to
correct mistakes, but will likely repeat a few, and to undertake new endeavors
– large and small – that will make life better for ourselves and those around us.
As you embark on your journey, we at Slice wish you peace, love and laughter
in the coming year. May your approach be unique and your confidence
unwavering. You never know what’s just around the bend.
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UP FRONT | Wanderlust<br />
77 Counties: Kay County<br />
Travelers’ Totem: The Topsy-Turvy Truck<br />
By M.J. Alexander<br />
IF THERE WAS A ROADSIDE AMERICANA<br />
HALL OF FAME, THE VERTICAL VEHICLE<br />
WOULD HOLD A PLACE OF HONOR. The<br />
most famous entry would be Cadillac Ranch,<br />
the row of 10 Caddies planted grills down, fins<br />
up in a field west of Amarillo. The most elaborate<br />
inductee might be Carhenge, the circle<br />
of upended cars painted a somber gray in a<br />
Nebraskan tribute to the ancient monument of<br />
Stonehenge. And the tallest entry would be from<br />
Oklahoma: the topsy-turvy truck of Tonkawa, a<br />
travelers’ totem on the Great Plains.<br />
The nose-down semi is off I-35, the state’s<br />
main north-south artery, which slices dead<br />
through the center of Oklahoma on its 1,568-mile<br />
run from Lake Superior south to the Rio Grande.<br />
On an average day, 17,500 vehicles pass the site<br />
off Exit 211, south of Tonkawa. More than 6 million<br />
each year. Hundreds of thousands of them<br />
are long-haul truckers.<br />
Clint Wilkins used to be one of them. In 1987,<br />
after nearly 25 years on the road, he and his son<br />
set up a truck parts and repair shop off the interstate.<br />
To promote the venture, they bought space<br />
on billboards, facing north and south. Cost:<br />
$22,000 a year.<br />
But before long, they had a better idea. Why<br />
not make their own sign Wilkins has worked by<br />
the motto: “You got to be different. That’s what<br />
Elvis Presley said.”<br />
So he took an eight-ton ’72 Kenworth and<br />
rented a crane to dangle it upside down. He<br />
anchored the truck’s hood in 11 feet of concrete,<br />
running three 20-inch pipes, each 40 feet long,<br />
up through the cab and the length of the rig. The<br />
24 SLICE // JANUARY 2015
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